Distance Survey Needs Your Input

Rick Young

Rick Young

I took some time this week to complete the USGA and Royal & Ancient’s (R&A) online distance survey, a key pillar of the governing bodies ongoing Distance Insights project announced earlier this spring. Distance, by the way, is defined for the survey simply as “how far shots travel.”

The deadline to participate is October 31. You are afforded an opportunity to add comments and your thoughts on distance and if you see this as any kind of issue for the game going forward.

Among the array of questions asked: the length of today’s touring pros; how far you as a recreational player hit it; if you believe your driving distance has changed compared to 10 years ago and how distance might or might not influence your purchase of golf equipment. Topics are quite varied, to say the least, and a few of the queries might even surprise you. Be assured all of the questions have some type of bearing on distance and its impact on golfers — positively or negatively — while at the golf course.

“We recognize the topic of distance is one that potentially impacts us all in some capacity,” said Mike Davis, USGA CEO in a release on the survey. “This is the best opportunity for people to share their thoughts and data with us. We know a final Distance Insights report that reflects a breadth of perspectives will be critical to deepening an understanding of the complex nature, and far-reaching implications, of this subject matter.”

One question I found particularly intriguing. It asked how much one thinks each of seven factors — players skill, club technology, ball technology, course design, course conditions, player fitness and coaching techniques — has contributed to distance and, using a 100 point total, asks respondents to allocate a point designation for each of the factors. That one can take a little time and some consideration.

I needed roughly 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire being administered by independent firm, Sports Marketing Surveys Inc. As a matter of disclosure I did add comments so it could take you less or more time depending on how long or short-winded you are in getting your opinion(s) across, if you choose to do so.

However long it takes the USGA and R&A seem keen to hear what we think.

“This is an important stage of the Distance Insights project,” said R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers, “and we would encourage people with an interest in golf to share their perspectives with us. There are many different points of view and considerations on distance and we want to make sure we have as full a picture as possible.”

At the end of the survey you will be asked about consenting to a follow-up interview or taking part in online group discussion. The idea with both of those platforms is to go deeper into the distance issue, a particularly hot topic this season, especially on the heels of the 2017 USGA and R&A distance summary. It is suggested in the 25-page report that year-over-year average distance gains across seven worldwide tours had spiked more than three yards after a slow creep of 0.2 yards per year since 2003. Touring professionals, of course, comprise approximately 0.0001 per cent of the world’s golfers.

Conversely, there is a counter argument. When you peruse the data in that same report, something that stands out with respect to recreational players, or the other 99.9999 per cent of global players, is we probably aren’t hitting the ball nearly far enough.

It indicates the average distance off the tee for men is 208 yards and the average for women is at 150 yards. A slight margin for error exists in both figures. The findings also suggest male players under a six-handicap average 236 yards off the tee while females of that same grouping average 195 yards. Overall, for men, the average driving distance has increased from 200 yards in 1996 up to that 208-yard total a year ago with a maximum average distance of 217 yards in 2005.

Results of the online survey will be made public next year, although neither the USGA nor R&A have a timeline for that. The governing bodies are also telling individuals, organizations or industry stakeholders that they will accept relevant original or commissioned data and research relating to distance via email until December 20. There is also an option to have data presented to the USGA and R&A in person at their respective headquarters in Far Hills, N.J., and St. Andrews, Scotland.

Similar to voting for elected officials or governments, the more people who submit their opinion the better the sample size and more accurate the results. It’s clear to many of us who cover the industry that the findings from the Distance Insights project are going to be used as the USGA and R&A barometer to affect the changes, if any, it deems appropriate for the long-term viability of the sport and the industry.

To their credit they’re giving us a platform to be heard. Stand up and be counted. The distance debate needs your input.